Resilient furring channel



Aug. 1, 1967 D. A. HARRIS 3,333,379

RES ILIENT FURR ING CHANNEL Filed Feb. 21, 1964 INVENTOR. DOVld A. Harris United States Patent 3,333,379 RESELIENT FURRING CHANNEL David A. Harris, Tonawanda, N.Y., assignor to National Gypsum Company, Buffalo, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 346,551 Claims. (Cl. 52364) The present invention relates to an improved resilient furring channel construction for mounting planar panels such as plywood, gypsum panels, or the like on base members, such as studs or joists.

The use of non-resilient furring channels for securing planar panels to studs, joists, or the like is well known. A non-resilient channel will produce a solid mounting which is not objection-ably :springy to the touch. However, this type of construction has the shortcoming that it will offer low resistance to sound transmission. In order to increase the resistance to sound transmission, resilient clips and resilient channel-like members of various configurations have been utilized. However, these resilient constructions are subject to the shortcoming of producting an undesirably springly bond between the panel and the base member on which it is mounted. It is with the overcoming of the shortcomings of each of the foregoing prior art furring constructions while retaining the advantages thereof that the present invention is concerned.

It is accordingly the primary object of the present invention to provide a resilient furring channel construction which is both sufficiently resilient to provide a high resistance to sound transmission but is sufiiciently solid to provent objectionable springiness of panels secured there- Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved resilient furing channel construction which is economical to produce in that it utilizes considerably less material than previous constructions.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved resilient furring channel which is attached to a base member in such a manner as to provide a fastener receiving surface which is always parallel with the panel secured thereto both during and after installation, to thereby provide good joints which could not otherwise be obtained in the absence of such a parallel relationship.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved resilient furring channel construction which is extremely stable against twisting, notwithstanding that it is sufficiently resilient to provide a relatively high resistance to sound transmission.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a resilient furring channel which can be secured to base members by use of different types of fastening arrangements, that is, by nails, screws, or by Wire tying to metal base members. Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will readily be perceived hereafter.

The improved resilient furring channel construction of the present invention is made of formed sheet metal and includes an elongated face for receiving fasteners such as self drilling screws which are driven through the panels which are to be mounted on the channel. Extending symmetrically at an angle from opposite edge portions of the face are expanded metal leg portions, and along the edges of the expanded metal leg portions which are remote from the fastener receiving face are flanges having spaced perforations for receiving fasteners such as screws, nails, or the like, which secure the opposite leg portions of the resilient furring channel to joists or the like. The expanded metal legs provide a plurality of advantages. Firstly, the total area of the expanded metal legs is much less than if they were solid, and therefore there is less sound transmission through the expanded metal legs than if they were solid. Secondly, the expanded metal legs provide a longer of surface materials such as path for the sound to travel through than if they were solid and therefore provide increased resistance to sound transmission. In addition, the expanded metal legs possess a sufiicient amount of resilience to contribute significantly to reducing sound transmission. The fact that there are flanges on opposite sides of the resilient furrin-g channel which secure it to base members, causes a solid balanced construction to be provided so that the panels mounted on the channels will not have an undesirable amount of springiness under pressure, nor will the channel twist between spaced points of connection to adjacent base members notwithstanding the fact that the expanded metal leg portions are resilient. In other words, the combination of resilient expanded metal legs and spaced flanges for securing the expanded metal legs to the base members in a balanced manner provides an arrangement wherein the inherently relatively resilient legs of the combination effect the high resistance to sound transmission while the spaced flanges provide a sufiiciently stable arrangement for mounting the panels without undesirable springiness. In addition, because the opposite edge portions of the resilient furring channel are secured to the base members, the screw receiving face of the channel will remain parallel to the faces of the planar panels both during and after mounting thereof notwithsanding its tendency to yield as fastening screws are driven through it, to thereby provide relatively even joints by eliminating the possibility of stepped joints which would otherwise be obtained if such parallelism were not obtained under all conditions. The present invention will be more fully understood when the following portions of the specification are read in.

conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective View of one form of the improved resilient furring channel of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view, partially in cross section, showing the manner in which the resilient furring channels secure a panel, such as gypsum board, to a base member, such as a joist;

FIG. 3 is a view taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of resilient furring channel;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view indicating how a butt joint on the improved resilient furring channel of the present invention is perfectly smooth; and

FIG. 6 is a view showing how the improved channel may be tied to a metal bar joist.

In FIG. 1 the improved resilient furring channel 10 is shown having a fastener receiving face 11 for receiving machine driven self-tapping screws such as 13. The opposite ends of face 11 merge into leveling ribs 12 which provide good contact between the furring strip and panel 14 which is attached thereto by screws 13 which extend through the panel. It is to be noted that screw receiving face 11 has striations 15 therein for tending to prevent undesired angle. The leveling ribs, as can be seen from FIG. 2, provide a spacing between screw receiving face 11 and the contiguous panel surface which engages ribs 12. Thus the flash which is formed in the direction of the wallboard as a result of inserting screws 13 into face 11 cannot tend to push the panel away from face 11. It is in this respect that leveling ribs 12 provide the good contact noted above. It is also to be noted that the instant resilient furring strip is intended for use with all types plywood, gypsum panels, fiberboard, etc. and the ensuing portions of this description will refer to these materials as panels for convenience of description.

The opposite edges of leveling ribs 12 merge into ex- Patented Aug. 1, 1967 receiving surface 11. The edges of expanded metal legs 16 merge into attachment flanges 17 which are substantially parallel to each other and lie in a plane which is substantially parallel to the plane of face 11. Flanges 17 have spaced apertures 18 therein for receiving screws or nails for fastening said flanges 17 to base members such as joists 19. As can be seen from FIG. 1 each expanded metal leg 16 has first spaced parts connecting the leg portion relative to face 11 and second spaced parts connecting the leg portion relative to each flange 17. The solid portions 20, 2.1, 22 and 23 provide a path which is longer than the shortest distance between the face 11 and flange 17.

As can be seen from FIGS. l-3, the expanded metal legs 16 are located between attachment flanges 17 and screw receiving face 11. Therefore a portion of the sound which is to be conducted from joists 19 to panel 14 must pass through expanded metal legs 16 because of the manner in which the resilient furring channels 10 secure panel 14 to joists 19. Since the path between screw receiving face 11 and flanges 17 has less cross sectional area than a path which would exist if said legs were solid, there is less sound transmission through said expanded metal legs 16 than through solid legs. Furthermore the path for sound to be conducted through the expanded metal legs 16 is a circuitous one because of the inherent nature of the expanded metal, and is therefore longer than if the legs linking screw receiving face 11 and flanges 17 were solid. The increased length of the foregoing path also reduces the sound transmission between surface 11 and flanges 17. Thus the foregoing factors of reduced cross sectional area and increased length of path which are obtained as a result of causing legs 16 to be of expanded metal cuts down appreciably the transmission of noise through legs 16.

It is also to be noted that the expanded metal legs impart a significant amount of resiliency to the assembly, and by virtue of this resiliency, transmission of sound between joists 19 and panel 14 is further decreased. However, in accordance with the present invention, the anchoring of both attachment flanges 17 to joists 19 provides a desired amount of stiffness for the support of panel 14 so that a very satisfactory and desirable balance between stiffness and resiliency is obtained. More specifically in this respect, the expanded metal legs, in combination with the attachment flange associated with each of said leg provides sufl'lcient rigidity and stability to panel 14 so that it is not objectionably springy to the touch notwithstanding that there is suificient resiliency to contribute significantly to the decrease of sound transmission in addition to the decreased sound transmission which is attributable to the above noted factors of decreased cross sectional area and increased length of path between screw receiving surface 11 and attachment flanges 17.

There is, it is believed, another factor which greatly contributes to the increased resistance to sound transmission between joists 19 and panel 14. This is the maze-like path provided by the expanded metal legs for the transmission of sound from joists 19 to panel 14. More specifically, assume that sound waves travelling through joists 19 were to reach panel 14. In doing so they would have to pass, for example, through solid portions 211, 21, 22, and 23 to reach flanges 17. This path, which is the shortest possible path between surface 11 and flanges 17, in addition to being much longer than a direct path between these elements and therefore providing greater resistance to sound transmission, also constitutes an extremely circuitous path between said elements thereby providing further difficulty for the sound to travel through said legs and therefore further increasing the resistance to the transmission of sound.

Summarizing, therefore, there are a plurality of factors attributable to the expanded metal legs for providing increased resistance to sound transmission. These factors 4 are: (l) The reduced cross sectional area of the legs; (2) the increased length of the path through the legs; (3) the resiliency of the legs; and (4) the circuitous nature of the path through the legs.

The instant resilient furring channel 10, because of its balanced construction, in that it has oppositely located flanges 17 for attachment to joists, enhances the ease with which panels 14 may be secured to surface 11 by means of screws 13, notwithstanding the inherent resiliency of expanded metal legs 16. In this respect, since any force which screws 13 may exert on face 11 during the process of securing panel 14 to face 11 is transmitted into both legs 16 which in turn are supported against excessive deflection by flanges 17 which are secured to joists 19, the distribution of the force in the foregoing manner causes face 11 to tend to retain its parallelism with respect to the surface of panel 14 and thus a smooth joint between adjacent panels 14 and 14" is obtained (FIG. 5), in contrast to a stepped joint which would be otherwise obtained in the event that opposite edges of surface 11 yielded away from panels 14 and 14" ditferent amounts during the process of attachment. It will also be appreciated that improved joints are also obtained when the seam between adjacent panels extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal axes of channels 10.

As noted briefly above, the instant resilient furring channel utilizes less material, because of its expanded leg 17, than it would use if said legs were solid. The use of less material reduces the cost of the channel and thus permits the final product to be relatively economical in addition to possessing the above enumerated reduced sound transmission advantages.

It is to be noted that apertures 18 in opposed attachment flanges 17 may be used for receiving wire ties for securing the resilient furring channel 10 to steel structural members which cannot receive screws or the like.

FIG. 6 discloses how the instant resilient furring channel may be attached to metal bar joists by means of wire ties 41 which are basically wires which pass through holes such as 18 of FIG. 1 and thereafter encircle bar joist 41 and are twisted to retain resilient furring channel 10 in position. It will also be appreciated that wire ties 40 may pass through the expanded metal portion of the legs rather than holes 18. In fact, for wire tying applications, holes 18 may be eliminated. Thus the instant construction can be attached to metallic members by tying, and such tying will be extremely stable because the opposite sides of channel 10 are tied to the steel supports with attachment flanges 17 firmly in engagement with said supports.

A modified form of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4 wherein resilient furring channel 30 contains opposed attachment flanges 31 having apertures 32, said elements being analogous to elements 17 and 13, respectively, of FIG. 1. Furthermore, channel 30 of FIG. 4 contains a planar screw receiving face 33 which is analogous to face 11 of FIG. 1 and ribs 34 which are analogous to ribs 13 of FIG. 1.

The construction of FIG. 4 differs from that of FIG. 1 however in the construction of legs 35, each of which includes a solid portion 36 and an expanded metal portion 37. The solid portion 36 provides added rigidity to face 33 against buckling in the direction of arrow 38 of FIG. 4, thereby further rigidizing surface 33 for the receipt of self-drilling screws such as 13. However, in order to retain the above enumerated advantages of the expanded metal legs 16 of FIG. 1, expanded metal leg portions 37 of FIG. 4 are provided. As can be seen, one edge of portion 36 is etfectively attached to face 33 and its opposite edge provides spaced parts connected to expanded metal portion 37 which, in turn, has spaced parts connected to flange 31. Thus the embodiment of FIG. 4 possesses all of the advantages of FIG. 1 and in addition has a greater degree of rigidity.

Resilient furring channels made in accordance with the principles of the present invention have been successfully fabricated in 12 foot lengths from hot dip galvanized steel .022" thick. Other dimensions of the channel are: flanges 17, the perpendicular length of expanded metal 16 between flanges 17 and face 11, A"; the width of face 11 between the peaks of levelling ribs 12, 1.297"; the approximate angle between flanges 17 and expanded metal legs 16, 47; the perpendicular distance between flanges 17 and face 11, .512"; and the overall dimension between outer edges of flanges 17, 3". It will be appreciated, of course, that the instant strip may be made with other dimensions while retaining all of the above-enumerated advantages.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it will readily be appreciated that the present invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A resilient furring channel for attaching a panel to a base member comprising a pair of spaced attachment flanges lying substantially in a first plane for receiving fastening means for securing said attachment flanges to said base member, a fastener receiving face for receiving fasteners for holding said panel in contiguous relationship to said face, said fastener receiving face lying in a second plane which is substantially parallel to said first plane, and resilient expanded metal legs joining edge portions of said attachment flanges to outer edge portions of said fastener receiving face to thereby resiliently support said face in spaced relationship to said flanges.

2. A resilient furring channel as set forth in claim 1 including apertures spacedly located in said attachment flanges for receiving said fastening means for securing said flanges to said base member.

3. A resilient furring channel as set forth in claim 2 including a solid leg portion interposed between said expanded metal legs and said fastener receiving face to thereby enhance the rigidity of said face in a direction perpendicular to the plane thereof.

4. A resilient furring channel for attaching a panel to a base member comprising a fastener receiving face for receiving fastener means extending through a panel supported in contiguous relationship to said face, an attachment flange laterally offset from said face for receiving fastener means for securing said flange to said base member, said face lying in a first plane and said attachment flange lying in a second plane which is substantially parallel to said first plane, means for securing said face to said attachment flange including a resilient expanded metal construction for providing an elongated path through said metal between said face and said flange and for providing a resilient connection between said face and said flange to thereby increase the resistance to sound transmission between said panel and base member through said resilient furring channel.

5. A resilient furring channel as set forth in claim 4 including spaced perforations located in said attachment flange.

6. A resilient furring channel for attaching a panel to a base member comprising an elongated substantially planar fastener receiving face for receiving fasteners for holding said panel in contiguous relationship to said face, a pair of elongated spaced substantially planar attachment flanges for receiving fastening means for securing said attachment flanges to said base member, each of said attachment flanges lying in a plane which is spaced from and substantially parallel to said substantially planar face and extending in the same direction as said elongated face and lying on opposite sides of said face, and a pair of resilient expanded metal legs formed integrally with both said flanges and said face and extending therebetween.

7. A resilient furring channel for attaching a panel to a base member comprising a fastener receiving face for receiving fastener means for holding said panel in contiguous relationship to said face, an attachment flange for receiving fastener means for securing said attachment flange to said base member, said attachment flange being laterally offset from said face, said face lying in a first plane and said attachment flange lying in a second plane which is spaced from said first plane, and leg means for securing said face to said attachment flange including first spaced parts on said leg means for connecting a first portion of said leg means proximate said face, second spaced parts on said leg means for connecting a second portion of said leg means proximate said flange, and solid portions connecting said first and second spaced parts and being of a length between said first and second spaced parts which is longer than the shortest distance between said face and said flange.

8. A resilient furring channel for attaching a panel to a base member comprising a fastener receiving face for receiving fastener means for holding said panel in contiguous relationship to said face, attachment flange means for receiving fastener means for securing said attachment flange to said base member, said attachment flange being laterally offset from said face, said face lying in a first plane and said attachment flange means lying substantially in a second plane which is spaced from said first plane, and leg means for securing said face to said attachment flange means including a first portion having first and second edges and extending transversely to said face, said first edge being effectively attached to said face, first spaced connecting parts proximate said second edge, second spaced connecting parts proximate said flange means, and second portions connecting said first and second spaced connecting parts and being of a length between said first and second spaced connecting parts which is longer than the shortest distance between said second edge and said flange means.

9. In combination, a panel, a base structure, and a resilient furring channel therebetween, said resilient furring channel comprising a fastener receiving face for receiving fastener means extending through said panel supported in contiguous relationship to said face, an 5&- tachment flange laterally offset from said fastener receiving face, said fastener receiving face lying in a first plane and said attachment flange lying in a second plane which is substantially parallel to said first plane, and means for securing said fastener receiving face to said attachment flange including a resilient expanded metal construction for providing an elongated path through said metal between said face and said flange and for providing a resilient connection to thereby increase the resistance to sound transmission between said panel and said base member through said resilient furring channel.

10. The combination as set forth in claim 9 including spaced perforations located in said attachment flange for receiving fasteners for attaching said attachment flange to said base member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS (Addition to No. 1,162,523)

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner. FRANK L. ABBOTT, Examiner. I. L. RIDGILL, Assistant Examiner. 

9. IN COMBINATION, A PANEL, A BASE STRUCTURE, AND A RESILIENT FURRING CHANNEL THEREBETWEEN, SAID RESILIENT FURRING CHANNEL COMPRISING A FASTENER RECEIVING FACE FOR RECEIVING FASTENER MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID PANEL SUPPORTED IN CONTIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP TO SAID FACE, AN ATTACHMENT FLANGE LATERALLY OFFSET FROM SAID FASTENER RECEIVING FACE, SAID FASTENER RECEIVING FACE LYING IN A FIRST PLANE AND SAID ATTACHMENT FLANGE LYING IN A SECOND PLANE WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID FIRST PLANE, AND MEANS FOR SECURING SAID FASTENER RECEIVING FACE TO SAID ATTACHMENT FLANGE INCLUDING A RESILIENT EXPANDED METAL CONSTRUCTION FOR PROVIDING AN ELONGATED PATH THROUGH SAID METAL BETWEEN SAID FACE AND SAID FLANGE AND FOR PROVIDING A RESILIENT CONNECTION TO THEREBY INCREASE THE RESISTANCE TO SOUND TRANSMISSION BETWEEN SAID PANEL AND SAID BASE MEMBER THROUGH SAID RESILIENT FURRING CHANNEL. 